Unrestrained lawlessness: Police remain clueless as bodies pile up

26 bodies have been found dumped in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera districts in 30 days.


Our Correspondents September 11, 2012

PESHAWAR:


An air of uncertainty has been looming around Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa since August 7, 2012 when sacked bodies, most of them unidentified, were found from different parts of the province.


Since then the toll has only increased. According to the number of incidents reported with the police, 26 bodies have been found dumped in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera districts in 30 days.

The concentration of such cases has been high in Peshawar, mainly in the suburbs of Khazana, Chamkani and Mathra areas, as well as the more populated localities of Hayatabad’s phase 6 and 7, which border Khyber Agency.

Twenty-three bodies have been found in sacks in these areas.  Some of the deaths are enshrouded in mystery, with the bodies bearing no marks of torture.

Five bodies have been found in the jurisdiction of Chamkani police station in Mera Kachuri, near the Motorway and on the bank of Budhani canal. Of these, only two were identified, namely Jamil Khan, 45, and Muhammad Zai, 24.

Two bodies were found from a stream in the jurisdiction of Sarband police station. They were identified as that of Arif Shah and Nawaz Din.

In Mathra Chowli Payan village, two bodies were found on August 10, in which one man was identified as Irfanullah, resident of Darwazgai, Matani. This was followed by another three bodies, which were found on the 15th of the same month.

Similarly in Khazana, five bodies were found, in which four were discovered in sacks. One body was found in Naguman area of Daudzai police station, while another one was recovered from the jurisdiction of East Cantt police station.

Four dead bodies were found in Hayatabad before and after the month of Ramazan.

On August 15, there were six such dumped bodies recovered, which brought the Peshawar High Court to take suo motu notice of the case. However, this has not stopped the bodies from piling up.

In other areas, the body of a 20-year-old was found in a gunny bag near the Motorway Interchange, with an ID placed in the pocket. The man had been kidnapped by armed men, his father told police officials. Meanwhile,two bodies were found in gunny bags in Charsadda and Nowshera districts on September 5.

In almost all cases, the police remain clueless. Police officials have refused to comment on the matter, but provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told journalists that the appearance of the bodies seemed to be a “conspiracy” against the government to give an impression that lawlessness prevails in the provincial capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2012.

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